Biblical Answers to Questions About Lust, Money, Idol Worship, and More (Part 2)
Read the first part of the blog here.
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Question #6 and #7:
Name: Benny
Email: lenin25@verizon.net
1. Do you think it is wise for Christians to pass laws to enforce Christianity?
2. Daniel sees four beasts coming up out of the sea. In prophecy, what does beasts represent, the bear with three ribs in its mouth, the leopard beast of Daniel, the little horn of Daniel 7:8?
Answer:
Dear Benny,
Biblical Christianity does not force law or coerce anybody. The law of Christ is called the law of liberty (James 1:25).
JAMES 1:25
But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.
It is even reflected in the law regarding the finances of the true Christian church (2 Corinthians 9:7).
2 CORINTHIANS 9:7
Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.
The fulfillment of Christian laws emanates from the willingness of the heart (Ephesians 6:6).
EPHESIANS 6:6
Not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart…
Even a Christian minister does not force the followers of the Christian faith to obey him (1 Peter 5:2-3).
1 PETER 5:2-3
2 Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind;
3 Neither as being lords over God’s heritage, but being examples to the flock.
Your second question calls for a very lengthy explanation. To give you a hint, the three beasts were symbolic of the three kingdoms that ruled the earth in the past. The fourth is symbolic of the kingdom that rules the earth now at present. The first kingdom is the Babylonian empire. The second is the Medo-Persian Empire. The third is the Grecian Empire. The fourth is the Roman Empire (Daniel 7:17).
DANIEL 7:17
These great beasts, which are four, are four kings, which shall arise out of the earth.
Bro. Eli Soriano
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Question #8:
Name: foogy
Email: cabrerajerry@yahoo.co.uk
Bro Eli, is the body or the flesh which was used by Jesus Christ will also ascend to His second coming? Or was it with Him when He went to heaven the day He died?
Answer:
Dear Foogy,
His body of flesh was changed when He was resurrected (2 Corinthians 5:15-16).
2 CORINTHIANS 5:15-16
15 And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.
16 Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more.
It is exactly what will also happen to believers (1 Corinthians 15:50-54).
1 CORINTHIANS 15:50-54
50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.
51 Behold, I show you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
54 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.
What happened to Him will happen to faithful Christians also (Philippians 3:20-21).
PHILIPPIANS 3:20-21
20 For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ:
21 Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.
When He descends again, we will see that same glorious body (Acts 1:9-11).
ACTS 1:9-11
9 And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.
10 And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel;
11 Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.
Bro. Eli Soriano
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Question #9:
Name: Karen Dickens
Email: karen42dickens@yahoo.com
In John 4:24, it says we must worship Him in spirit and in truth. How can a person do that? What is meant by spirit and truth?
Answer:
Dear Karen,
The verse gives us an idea. God is a spirit. A spirit does not have flesh and bones (Luke 24:39).
LUKE 24:39
Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.
The idea is that we must not have idols or graven images as the pagans have in their worship. To worship God in the spirit is to worship and praise the name of God (Psalms 138:2).
PSALMS 138:2
I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name.
It is prohibited by God to worship Him by using graven images (Deuteronomy 5:7-9).
DEUTERONOMY 5:7-9
7 Thou shalt have none other gods before me.
8 Thou shalt not make thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the waters beneath the earth:
9 Thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me…
To worship Him in truth is to base our worship on God’s words or teachings. His word is truth (John 17:17).
JOHN 17:17
Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.
There are those who worship God not according to His words or commandments, but according to the commandments of men. They worship Him in vain (Mark 7:7).
MARK 7:7
Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.
A true worshipper must worship God according to the way God expects him to worship Him. Nobody must do it in his own way, or he will worship in vain (Colossians 2:23).
COLOSSIANS 2:23
Which things have indeed a show of wisdom in will-worship, and humility, and neglecting of the body; not in any honor to the satisfying of the flesh.
Bro. Eli Soriano
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Question #10:
Name: David Sibayan
Email: davidman042003@yahoo.com
Bro. Eli, you have mentioned that Adam was already taught by God everything before Adam and Eve transgressed their covenant, what was that "good and evil" they are going to know after they ate the forbidden fruit, mentioned in Genesis 3:22?
Answer:
Dear David,
The good are the commandments (Romans 7:12).
ROMANS 7:12
Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.
The evil is the transgression of the good or the commandments. At the start, Adam does not know sin (1 John 3:4; Romans 7:7-8).
1 JOHN 3:4
Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.
ROMANS 7:7-8
7 What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.
8 But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law sin was dead.
You must note that the knowledge of good and evil (or the comprehension between obedience and transgression was not known to Adam at the start), but was insinuated by satan (Genesis 3:4-5).
GENESIS 3:4-5
4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
God wants them to live in freedom, and does not want them to have cares for what is good and evil; what is right and what is wrong. He just wanted them to enjoy life and obey His simple commandment: to multiply and replenish the earth (Genesis 1:27-28).
GENESIS 1:27-28
27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
Bro. Eli Soriano
Biblically, Bro. Eli will address all our problems in life...Kudus Bro. Eli..
ReplyDeleteMore Power and God Bless Bro. Eli and to everyone.
ReplyDeleteGOD BLESS you more BRO ELI,long live for you,many souls still in the darkness,marami pa pong kaluluwa ang ma save sa pamamagitan ng iyong pangangaral,,
ReplyDeleteTHe answer to question number one is new to me. Nice! Thanks be to God.
ReplyDelete